The Prodigal Sister
by Earthling
Summary: When Sully's sister shows up at the homestead, wounded, pregnant and wearing the clothes of a Cheyenne brave, Michaela knows their lives are about to change*Completed*
1. Default Chapter

The Prodigal Sister  
This story and all ideas, themes and original characters are the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Any unauthorized use is actionable in a court of law.  
  
To borrow a phrase: Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman and all characters and settings no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please? Author's Note: This takes place a couple months after Sully and Michaela get married.  
  
"Sully!" Brian was pointing at the woods, across the little grass field where the horses grazed. Sully looked up from the pile of wood he was working on. There was a figure coming across the field. Michaela and Colleen came out of the house to see what all the fuss was. Sully looked hard. The figure was obviously Indian, but who was it?  
"Sully, Sully do you see?" Brian came running backwards and almost tripped.  
"Yeah, I see Brian" Sully answered, still watching the figure, walking steadily across the field past the horses.  
"Who is it, Sully?" Michaela asked. Just then, Sully got sight of something. Long, almost blonde, wavy hair blowing in the wind. He only knew one Indian with blonde hair. He dropped his ax and started running, as fast as he could run. He leapt over the low part of the fence and kept running. He saw the figure had started walking a bit faster.  
"Brianna!" he called when he could see her face. She was grinning at him. He couldn't stop fast enough not to run into her, but it didn't matter. She threw her arms around his neck as he lifted her off the ground and twirled her around in the air. He was grinning like a crazy man, he was sure but he could care less at the moment. He set her down and looked at her. She was older, but not much. There were feathers and beads braided into her hair, and she wore the buckskins of a brave, as usual.  
"What're you doing here?" he asked, though he really didn't care about that either.  
"I missed you" she told him and he almost rejoiced in hearing her voice again, "I'm sorry I missed the wedding" He had sent word to her, and had been a little surprised when she hadn't shown up.  
"It's all right" he told her. That's when he noticed she was paler than she should've been and she was hanging onto his arm for support.  
"What's wrong?" he asked, knowing she'd never say.  
"That wife of yours, she's a doctor, right?" Brianna asked. Sully nodded, concern lining his face. She lifted her buckskin shirt to her breast, revealing a large leaf/buckskin patch covering her right side. Blood seeped through the middle, bright red.  
"Think she can help with this?" she asked with a laugh and then her eyes rolled back in her head and she fainted in his arms. Sully turned his head and yelled, the most desperate sound he'd probably ever made.  
"Michaela!"  
  
*Reviewing is GOOD! Please do so!* 


	2. Who Is Brianna?

The Prodigal Sister  
  
This story and all ideas, themes and original characters are the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Any unauthorized use is actionable in a court of law.  
  
To borrow a phrase: Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman and all characters and settings no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please?  
  
Michaela lifter her skirts and ran. She had been startled when Sully had taken off, faster than a lightning bolt. But she had seen whoever it was faint, and by the sound of Sully's voice something was seriously wrong. He was standing in the middle of the field, supporting his friend.  
"What's wrong?" she asked as she reached them. She stopped short when she realized Sully's friend was a woman. A woman who looked a lot like Sully. A very young Sully.  
"She's hurt" Sully said, lifting the woman's buckskin shirt and pulling away the makeshift patch.  
"It looks like a gunshot wound" Michael told him, examining the small circular wound with her hands.  
"Bring her back to the house, quickly" she ordered and took off ahead as Sully lifted the woman and started running to the house. Michaela reached it just a second before he did.  
"Colleen, get my bag!" she ordered the girl, "Brian, get me some water and cloths. Here, Sully, put her on the table" Her husband obeyed and layed the woman out on the table. She moaned and Michaela noticed her breath wasn't coming easily. Colleen arrived with the bag and Brian set the bowl of water and stack of cloths on a chair next to Michaela. The Doctor went to work, rolling the woman's shirt up until she daren't any more. When she started, though, she woke up.  
"Ahhh!" she screamed and sat up.  
"Sully, hold her down!" Michaela ordered him. He pushed the woman back down by the shoulder.  
"Colleen, hold her feet" he ordered the girl. Michaela was soon glad he had, for the woman tried to kick.  
"Sully keep her still!" Michaela cried as she worked to get the bullet out. It was logged fairly deep and little streams of blood ran down the woman's side.  
"Bri, stop moving! She's trying to help you" His words seemed to have an affect because the woman stopped squirming.  
"Ah, got it" Michaela announced, holding the small ball of metal up, then reaching for her stiches.  
"Colleen, wipe the blood up" she ordered when she was done, "Careful, she'll be tender.  
"Sully?" the woman moaned. Lord, she even sounded like Sully.  
"It's all right" Sully told her, brushing a feathered braid away from her face, "You're fine now" Michaela looked at her husband while wiping off her hands.  
"Sully?" she asked, clearly wanting to know what was going on. Sully looked at her, then down at the woman, then back up at her.  
"Michaela, meet Brianna" he introduced them, "My sister" 


	3. Sully Has a Sister!

The Prodigal Sister  
  
This story and all ideas, themes and original characters are the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Any unauthorized use is actionable in a court of law.  
  
To borrow a phrase: Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman and all characters and settings no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please?  
  
"Why didn't you ever tell me that you had a sister?" Michaela tried not to shout, though she was angry. She didn't want to upset the children, or the woman who slept on the other side of the wall. The wound hadn't been too terribly bad, more of a grazing then anything else. The bullet hadn't gone deep and was easily extracted. She didn't expect the woman to be bed ridden for long at all. Michaela had nearly dropped her towel when Sully had proclaimed the woman his sister, though she could hardly argue. She did look almost exactly like him, though she was obviously younger. Michaela toyed with the idea that she might be his daughter, but discarded that idea before she could really even consider it. Sully would have said something about that.  
"There weren't no need" he replied, not looking at her.  
"No need!" she repeated hotly, "There was no 'need' to tell me you had family? Did you even invite her to our wedding?"  
"Of course I did!" he told her, "I don't know why she didn't come"  
"And would you have told me she was your sister if she had?" Michaela demanded.  
"Of course I would've" he said, "I just.......look, Michaela, she's done some things in her past that......I didn't entirely approve of. It got her into some trouble. I just......I just didn't want to see her or you or anyone else get hurt over it" Well, now Michaela was concerened.  
"Trouble? What kind of trouble?" she asked. Sully just shook his head.  
"It don't matter" He turned away and then turned back, "Look, I don't know why she's here now. But I'm not turnin' her away and if she wants to stay she can" That sounded more like an order than a request to Michaela. Just lucky for her husband that she didn't object.  
"Of course she can stay" she said, "I was just...surprised"  
"It's not your fault" Sully admitted, "I shoulda told you about her before. I just...I haven't actually seen her in.....years" He looked upset by the fact.  
"What happened?" Michaela asked softly. He just shook his head.  
"We argued. She got married, ran off"  
"She married?" Michaela questioned, surprised she guessed. She didn't look like a married woman, all in buckskin pants and shirt. She was dressed like a man, and not just any man, a Cheyenne man, with feathers and beads braided into her hair. Sully nodded though.  
"A friend of mine, Dark Moon"  
"Where've they been?" Michaela asked. She wasn't surprised that Sully's sister was married to an Indian. But Sully shook his head again, looked out the window.  
"Don't know" he said, "We wrote, back and forth, but, she never said where they were"  
"You wrote?" Now Michaela was surprised again. Sully had a standard corespondance by letter to anyone? How had the letters gotten back and forth, if this sister of his, Brianna he had introduced her as, was always traveling. And what was an Indian woman doing traveling anyway? And why did she where buckskins? There were so many questions swirling in Michaela's head she feared she'd never get them all answered.  
"Yeah. The letters would get passed around by braves until it eventually got to whoever it was supposed to"  
"A precarious way of sending mail" Michaela commented. Sully shrugged.  
"It worked" Niether of them said anything for a few moments.  
"Well," Michaela finally asked, "What are you going to do now?" Sully just shrugged again.  
"Don't know" he answered. 


	4. The Wound

The Prodigal Sister  
This story and all ideas, themes and original characters are the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Any unauthorized use is actionable in a court of law.  
  
To borrow a phrase: Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman and all characters and settings no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please? Author's Note: This story encompasses almost an entire year, so each segment doesn't necissarily happen like the next day. But it all makes sense!  
  
Sully took a seat on the edge of the bed. Bri was staring off out the window like Michaela said. They had pretty much always been close, always united against their father, even when they were fighting they were close. Sully didn't push her to talk, didn't giver her orders, she didn't push him to talk or expect him to coddle her. They were friends, or at least they had been once. He was glad she was there, but he needed to know why, after so many years. Still, talking wasn't either of their strong points.  
"Hey" he started. She made some kind of gutteral sound to acknowledge him.  
"How's your side" he tried again. She turned around to look at him.  
"Good" she said, "Michaela's good. Says I can get outa bed tomorrow" Sully nodded slowly. This wasn't what he really wanted to talk about.  
"How'd it happen?"  
"Hell if I know" Bri chuckled, "Hunters, I guess" Sully didn't quite believe her and she knew it.  
"What?" Sully shrugged.  
"You didn't get it, say, Ridin'?" Bri looked down.  
"I stopped Riding, Sully" she told him softly. Sully stopped.  
"Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded. Brianna shrugged.  
"Guess I felt stupid" she answered. Neither said anything for a moment.  
"When?" he asked, more calm now. She still hadn't really said why she was here. Or how she had gotten shot. She swallowed hard and turned away, hugging herself. She had never turned away from him, not ever since she was born.  
"Two years ago" she answered quietly, "Colt Running Swiftly died" Sully felt bad now.  
"Thunder Rolling" her head dropped, and he felt fear creeping into him. Thunder Rolling was her nephew, Colt Running Swiftly's son.  
"Thunder Rolling started Riding" she told him softly, shaking her head.  
"He can't be old enough to go Riding" Sully objected.  
"He's not!" she confirmed, "But he goes anyway, and they don't stop him. When he started Riding, Sully, god." She closed her eyes for a moment, " It scared me to death every time we went out. I started to understand what I put you through every time I went. And I saw, too, how useless it was. All that anger. Riding doesn't do any good." He had told her that a million times, at least. Every time she came home, and every time she left. She always ignored him. He was sorry she had to figure it out the hard way. To lose Colt Running Swiftly.....they were close friends, even closer than she had been with Laughing Moon. Not as close as she was with Sully, but there had been times he wondered. He knew she considered him to be a second brother, after himself.  
"I would have come to your wedding" she said, and he could hear sobs choking her voice, "But Thunder Rolling went out by himself, looking for revenge. Dark Moon went out after him, to stop him" Now she turned around and he could see the tears in her brown eyes. When was the last time he'd seen her cry? Not since the day she was sent away, when he was ten.  
"They'd been missing almost a month by the time your wedding day came" she admitted, "Sully, they're still missing" The tears fell and he enveloped her into his embrace. That's why she'd come. How long had he and Michaela been married now? Two months? Two and a half. That meant his brother-in-law and his sister's nephew had been missing three months, at least. With Custer and his men looking for a fight all over the country, the chances were good that she might never see her family again. He didn't blame her for crying. 


	5. A Short Life's History

The Prodigal Sister  
  
This story and all ideas, themes and original characters are the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Any unauthorized use is actionable in a court of law.  
  
To borrow a phrase: Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman and all characters and settings no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please? Author's Note: I'm not fully clear on Sully's childhood and family. If something doesn't jive, sorry!  
  
"I keep telling him not to go out by himself, but he keeps doing it" Michaela said, telling Brianna about one of her "chronic" patients, Donald Tether, who tended break bones when he went out hunting by himself. "Ah, what fools these mortals be"  
Michaela looked up at her sister in law. Brianna smiled at her mischeviously.  
"Surprised?"  
"I must admit that I am" Michaela replied. Brianna chuckled.  
"The one thing about our family that Sully is ashamed of is that I got sent off to school back East"  
"I'm sure he's not ashamed of that" Michaela said, pulling the sheet over the edge of the bed. The woman insisted she was well enough to be about, and Michaela had agreed she could get up today. Brianna studied her for a moment.  
"Maybe not now. But he was then, even I remember that" Brianna took a breath, ready to tell the whole story, "I was six years old. Our Mother had just died. Father...Father had no idea what to do with a little girl, and he figured I would need some schooling so he sent me off. Oh, Sully threw a fit. Of course he was only ten, so I went"  
"How?" Michaela asked. Sully had spoken, limitedly about his family. All Michaela really knew was that his mother had drowned in the Hudson when he was ten, and that his father had died some years later of heart failure.  
  
"The normal way, by train"  
"No, I mean...."  
"How did he pay for it?" Brianna chuckled again, "Father had money. Inherited it from some Uncle in England. He just wasn't proud of the fact"  
"He wasn't proud that he had money?" Michaela wasn't surprised. Money meant practically nothing to Sully, or to Brianna for that matter. She supposed they had to get that from someone.  
"Nope. Reminded him of the nobles back in England. Hated them. He just used it. Sent me all the way through college"  
"College? You went to college?" Now Michaela was surprised again, and excited to meet another woman who had gone to college. Had Sully's father been so liberal as to send his daughter through college?  
"Yep"  
"What did you study?"  
"Linguistics. I have a degree, pretty as can be. I graduated just before Father died." Now Brianna looked away, "A good thing too. Father had...written Sully out of his will, and so my Uncle was given power over my inheritance"  
"Why did your Father write Sully out of his will?" Michaela asked, now too enthralled with Brianna's story to do much else. She spread the quilt over the bed and sat down to listen. Brianna was watching Sully and Brian work on the fence outside. Michaela took the chance to study her face close up. She looked remarkably like Sully, except that her hair was lighter, her features not, well, as masculine. She had a world weary sort of look in her eye though, and Michaela recognized the same kind of loner look in her face that had been in Sully's for so long.  
"I don't know" her sister-in-law answered, "You'd have to ask Sully. Anyway, at seventeen I knew I had only two choices...."  
"You graduated from college at seventeen?" Michaela interrupted, now much more than just surprised. She was astounded. Brianna smiled.  
"Yes"  
"You must be a very smart young woman" Michaela exclaimed, completely forgetting her earlier thoughts.  
"Well, that depends on who you talk to I suppose" Brianna laughed.  
"You had two choices..."  
"Yep. Either stay and let my Uncle rule my life, or move out here with Sully. He'd.....already been here quite a few years. Well, the women of my family have always been independent, and so I moved. Sully spent a lot of time with the Cheyenne. I found it all facinating of course, being a linguist. I learned their language quick enough and started doing some interpreting work. Mostly I stayed in their camps with them. And then I met Dark Moon"  
"Your husband?" Brianna nodded.  
"Not then though. That didn't happen until after I started Riding"  
"How did you start doing that?" Sully had mentioned that she had done some things he hadn't entirely approved of. Perhaps......but a woman? Even Michaela had doubts about that.  
"The camp was attacked one night. A bunch of soldiers who didn't have anything better to do in their drunken stupor but slay unprotected women and children. All the men were gone hunting, except for a few of the old ones. In the defense of the white men they probably couldn't tell it was all women who were fighting them between being drunk and the lack of the moon that night. Still. They took off after I got an arrow through one of their arms. When the light came, bringing the men with it, the camp was ruined, trampled by horses. Three women and two children were dead. A low count compared to some other massacres. Dark Moon's sister and niece were among the dead though. She...." Brianna stopped talking for a moment, "Her name was Laughing Moon. The girl was Soft Feather. Her son was left, Thunder Rolling. Her husband, Colt Swiftly Running, was...........angry. As was Dark Moon. And so was I. We rode. At first, the men didn't want me to come, but, I...uh, convinced them." Brianna looked off, at nothing in particular now. Michaela felt maybe she should say something, but she didn't think Brianna was finished yet.  
"Sully.........was not happy" she said slowly, "He even threatened to send me back to my Uncle. He said I should help keep the peace, not help to threaten it. He was right but I didn't see it then. All I saw was dead women and children. He couldn't stop me, so he didn't try. We'd be gone for months, come home. He was always glad to see me, he always tried to get me to stay the next time we left. Then, when I was about 21, he and Dark Moon both decided I should stop. They thought maybe if I settled down I would. At first I told Dark Moon no because I knew that's what they thought, and I thought that was the only reason he wanted me. But......" She smiled quickly at Michaela, "well it wasn't and eventually we married. But it didn't stop me, didn't even slow me down. Dark Moon would've been looked down upon for having such a wife, but everyone knew me. I rode every time he did" She looked back at Michaela, "We didn't attack people, you know. Mainly we were....well I guess you could call us mercenaries, except we didn't get paid. We just fought along side of any Indian that was fighting the Calvary. That was years ago. Almost a year before Sand Creek. According to Sully, just before you moved here."  
"It would've been. I tended to Chief Black Kettle after that." Michaela said.  
"I remember Sully writing about it" Brianna smiled kindly, "He was impressed"  
"But you don't ride anymore, do you?" Michaela asked.  
"No. Not anymore" Brianna answered, and returned her gaze to the scene out the window.  
  
Just move your mouse down a little and click! That's it! 


	6. A Trip Into Town

The Prodigal Sister  
This story and all ideas, themes and original characters are the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Any unauthorized use is actionable in a court of law.  
  
To borrow a phrase: Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman and all characters and settings no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please?  
  
Michaela wasn't about to let Brianna do to herself what Sully had done, run off into the woods and hide from life. Even if the homestead wasn't exactly "the woods". As soon as she thought her sister-in-law was up to it, she invited her to go to town with the rest of them. Sully had some business to do, and Michaela still had a practice to run. So, Brianna saddled up one of the horses and rode along beside them.  
Unfortunately, the woman did not recieve the welcome Michaela had been hoping for. They watched from the sidewalks as they rode down the street, and Mike saw some of the women immediately start tattering to each other as they passed. She didn't know what she had expected. It wasn't as if Brianna was going to make it easy for herself, dressed as an Indian man. But Michaela also understood wanting to be accepted for who you were, not what you wore, and so she found some sympathy for the woman.  
"Good morning, Lauren!" she said chipperly as they all entered the story together.  
"Mornin', Doc" Lauren greeted her back, "Can I help you?"  
"Yes, actually. I'm in need of some more flour, and I think Colleen needs a spool of red thread, if you have it"  
"Yep" Lauren said, but he was looking past Michaela. She turned and saw that he was watching Brianna roam the store, looking at everything.  
"Uh, Lauren, I'd like you to meet Sully's sister" Michaela said brightly, grabbing Brianna by the arm and hauling her over.  
"Brianna, this is Lauren" Lauren looked her over.  
"I remember you" he said slowly, "Ran off with the Indians a few years back" Brianna smiled.  
"We never actually met as I recall" That would've been during the time that Lauren wouldn't even speak to Sully.  
"Uh, no. But I remember seein' ya around though" Lauren said.  
"Well, I suppose I do tend to stick out a bit" she replied.  
"Mmm" was all Lauren said, "I'll get that flour for ya, Doc. You go ahead and get the thread you want, Colleen" As Lauren went into the back Brianna meandered over to where Colleen was parusing the thread spindels.  
"What're you lookin for?" she asked. Colleen picked up a red spool.  
"Dr. Mike's and I are making a new dress" she answered, " My others are getting too short" Brianna picked up a green spool.  
"A new dress, huh? I bet you look real pretty red" She smiled. Colleen smiled too. The two of them hadn't found much to talk about and Michaela was glad to see they could make conversation.  
"Michaela!" Michaela turned at the sound of Dorothy's voice. She had a piece of paper in her hand and a worried look on her face.  
"Does this sound right to you?" she asked. Michaela took the paper and read over the article.  
"I don't know" she replied, "Perhaps Brianna will. She has a degree in linguistics"  
"Whose Brianna?" Dorothy asked excitedly. She was always eager to meet someone new. Michaela nodded her head over toward the threads where Colleen and Brianna were still discussing what color the dress should be.  
"Sully's sister" She could see the plain surprise on Dorothy's face.  
"Sully has a sister?" she asked and then squinted a bit as she studied Brianna's back. She barely looked like a woman from behind.  
"Brianna?" Michaela called. Brianna looked up from the threads and joined them when Michaela motioned her over.  
"Brianna, this is Dorothy Jennings, she runs the newspaper" Michaela introduced them.  
"Pleased to meet you" Dorothy nodded her head and Brianna smiled.  
"Uh, Dorothy seems to be having some trouble with her article, I thought maybe you could help?" Michaela said nervously, handing Dorothy's paper to her sister-in-law. It was obvious that even Dorothy was wary about this woman dressed as an Indian man.  
"Michaela says you have a degree in linguistics" Dorothy said. Brianna looked up from the paper.  
"Yes. I went through school in New York City" she replied and went back to reading the paper. After a few seconds she looked up.  
"I believe you should reverse the order of paragraphs two and three" she suggested, "It flows better that way and relieves the confusion" Dorothy took the paper back and read over it again, presumeably reversing the order of paragraph.  
"Why, yes, that does sound better" she said with a smile. Just then Lauren came back with a bag of flour.  
"Here ye are, Doc" he said, laying the bag on the counter.  
"Oh, Sully" Michaela said needlessly as her husband collected the bag and took it out to the wagon. Colleen came flying over.  
"I still want the red" she said and set the spool on the counter. Lauren looked at the bottom and wrote something down.  
"All right" he said when he had written down the correct price.  
"I'll see you later, Dorothy" Michaela said, shoving Colleen out in front of her.  
"Nice to meet you" she heard Brianna say before joining them. Michaela sighed. This wasn't going to be easy. 


	7. Brianna Makes a Splash

The Prodigal Sister  
  
This story and all ideas, themes and original characters are the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Any unauthorized use is actionable in a court of law.  
  
To borrow a phrase: Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman and all characters and settings no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please?  
  
Brianna continued to go into town with the family, though she mainly stayed home with Sully. She prefered to go hunting with her brother, or help with the animals. Unfortunately there was little to draw her to going into town, as there was never any business for her to do there and she usually ended up sitting out in front of Michaela's office, which was unfortunate for Michaela because she tended to scare off some of the patients.  
One morning, before she had gotten bored yet, Michaela noticed her rubbing her stomach.  
"Do you feel all right?" Michaela asked, trying to look as if she hadn't noticed anything.  
"Yeah, I'm fine" Brianna answered, though she continued to rub her stomach.  
"Stomach ache?"  
"Ah, I probably just ate something bad" Brianna smiled it away.  
"Are you sure?" Michaela pushed.  
"Yeah. 'Scuse me" she said and ran out the door. Michaela went to the back part of the office and heard the distinct sound of somebody wretching behind the wall. She assumed it was Brianna, but the woman didn't return so she couldn't question it. She had forgotten all about it by the time she saw her again at Grace's for lunch.  
"Where did you go today?" she asked as they carried their plates back to the table. Brian would be having his lunch at school today and Colleen was off with friends.  
"Went for a walk around town. Sat at the train station for a while. I think I scared Horace" she laughed.  
"Well he is easily jittered" Michaela said with a laugh.  
"Hello, Michaela, Brianna" Dorothy said as she sat down across from them.  
"Afternoon, Dorothy" Michaela replied, "It's a lovely day, isn't it?"  
  
"Yes, indeed" Dorothy replied.  
"I read your latest issue, Ms. Jennings" Brianna said politely. Dorothy smiled. She always liked to hear that, no matter who it was saying it. She had begun to warm up a little to Brianna, to Michaela's thanks.  
"Oh?" she said.  
"I found it very intriguing. Extremely well written, humourous, and informative" Brianna told her matter of factly,"Are you the only writter?"  
"Yes I am" Dorothy answered happily.  
"And the publisher, as well I assume?"  
"I am"  
"Very impressive Ms. Jennings" Brianna smiled at her. Michaela thought she looked much more like Sully when she smiled. She found it attractive.  
"Well, thank you, and call me Dorothy" Just then a commotion broke out in front of Hank's saloon. The women abandoned their lunches to join the rest of the crowd that was gathering. Michaela didn't recognize the two men that were facing each other, guns drawn, right out there in the middle of the street. They were shouting at each other and Michaela deduced they were fighting over some kind of card game. She figured she had better stick around, as one of them, or both, would likely be needing her services in the very near future. But there were no shots fired. The second man, dressed handsomely in a three piece suit with a gold watch chain hanging from his pocket, holstered his gun and walked away, pushing through the crowd. Unfortunately, the other man did not seem to want to give it up so quickly. He was obviously drunk and turned to face the crowd, still aiming his gun, where the other man had disappeared.  
"Ya yellow belly! Come back here!" he shouted, "I ain't never seen a man more cowardly! Get you're accusin' ass back here and fight, damn you!" Some of the women gasped at his language. That was when Michaela noticed that Brianna was no longer by her side.  
"Why don't you just leave it" a voice told the man from the crowd. He spun around.  
"Oh, no!" Michaela sighed. It was Brianna. She was still part of the crowd, but not for a second longer because they all backed away from her.  
"What'd you say, Injun?" the drunk man sneered, walking closer to her, still waving his gun around.  
"I said, just leave it" Brianna repeated more slowly this time.  
"Well I don't recall askin' you, Injun" the man slurred, "So why don't you just mind your own business" Brianna didn't reply, she just stood where she was while he got even closer.  
"Well, lookee here!" he cried, "A blonde Injun! Hoo-hooo! What they call you? 'White Man's Hair?' Huh?" The man laughed hysterically at his own joke, reaching out to pull on Brianna's hair.  
"Oh, dear" Dorothy muttered. The drunk man may not have known Brianna was a woman, but Brianna certainly did and so did the crowd that was still watching. And as they did so, Brianna caught the man's hand, jerked his gun out of his other one, and pushed him away, all in a single fluid movement, almost as if she hadn't moved at all.  
"Why, you!" the man didn't finish his sentence he just lunged at her. She used one arm to block his punch, and the heel of her other hand to strike him in the chest. The man staggered backward, but came after her again. This time, Brianna threw her arm out first and caught him in the jaw, knocking him right to the ground. He didn't stay down though, he just wiped the blood away from his mouth and came after her again. Michaela could see Brianna shaking her head, as if watching a foolish child falling from the low branch of a tree. This time he stayed low and aimed for her belly, but she just caught his arm, twisted it back a little, let go and gave him another blow to his jaw. He fell again, but this time he stayed down. The crowd was quiet as she stayed in place a second to make sure he wasn't getting up, then crossed the street to where Dorothy and Michaela were standing.  
"I think I'll go home now" she said and took off toward the homestead. Michaela sighed again. No, this was not going to be easy at all. 


	8. The Bonding of Brianna and Brian

The Prodigal Sister  
  
This story and all ideas, themes and original characters are the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Any unauthorized use is actionable in a court of law.  
  
To borrow a phrase: Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman and all characters and settings no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please?  
  
"It scared me Sully" Brian heard Michaela tell her husband. He was evesdropping. He knew he shouldn't be but he wanted to hear about what Aunt Bri, as she had instructed he and Colleen to call her, had done earlier today that had stirred his Ma up so much.  
"Ah, Mike, it ain't nothing to worry about" Sully told her.  
"That's the second time she's gotten into a fight" Michaela said.  
"She wasn't fightin'" Sully corrected, "She was protectin'. And it's a good thing she did, or you might not be standin here right now" Brian watched as Sully kissed Dr. Mike. He rolled his eyes and waited for them to stop, hopeful they would continue their conversation.  
"Still, it's not any way of protecting I've ever seen before" Michaela continued.  
"She learned it from a China man" Sully told her, "While she was at school" Brian thought that Sully didn't sound like he approved of the fact, but Brian found it very interesting. Very interesting indeed.  
"She used to practice everyday, out in the woods where nobody'd see her" Really? Aunt Bri was out in the woods now. Brian backed away and snuck outside. He took a second to decide which way she might've gone, and then took off behind the barn. He ran for a few minutes before he heard the sounds of someone grunting. He slowed down and followed them. When he could see Aunt Bri, identifiable by her indian clothing, he slowed down and crawled under the brush. She was in a small circle free of underbrush, facing a tree. She had pulled her hair back in a leather strap and he could see small streams of sweat on her face. He hunkered down to watch her practice the skills she'd learned from the China man. He could feel his eyes getting bigger and bigger as he watched. She was apparently fighting the tree. She kicked at it, she punched at it, she jumped into the air and did flips and kicks. She backed up and got a good running start, then ran straight up the tree trunk and ran off one of the branches, did a flip in the air and landed on her feet! When she landed she stopped and took a deep breath. For a second Brian thought she might go into some kind of Indian meditation, which wasn't very interesting to watch, but she didn't. Instead she kept her eyes closed and started moving her arms, fast as lighting, cutting through the air like her arms were super sharp blades and the air was melted butter. She moved her feet too, in a sort of square pattern. Brian was just thinking he could watch for a lot longer when he shifted his weight and felt a twig snap beneath his feet. Aunt Bri must've heard it because she stopped and opened her eyes. He ducked a little more and hoped she wouldn't see him.  
"Brian?" He sighed and stood up.  
"What're you doing out here?" she asked, though she didn't seem upset about it.  
"Ma said you beat those bandits up today" he replied, "And Sully said you did it with your China man fighting" He didn't know what else to say. The rest was obvious.  
"I didn't beat them up" Brianna corrected, "And anyway, how did you hear about that? You're Ma told me not to say anything" Brian looked down at the ground and shrugged.  
"Heard it as you were passing through the kitchen, no doubt" Aunt Bri said, and Brian looked up. She was smiling and he knew she wouldn't tell his Ma.  
"Did you really learn that from a china man?" he asked excitedly.  
"Yes" she answered slowly. She studied him for a minute and then lowered herself to the ground.  
"Well, come here" she said and he hopped over the bushes to join her in her little circle.  
"It's called Karate" she told him, "The man's name was Po Rai. I had to sneak out of my room at night and meet him in the school barn to learn it"  
"Did it take a long time?" Brian asked.  
"Yep. The whole time I went to school there, and that was about ten years"  
"Wow" was all Brian could think of to say, though one question did come to mind, "Will you teach me?" Brianna chuckled.  
"Not a chance" she told him, "Now, come on, your Ma ought to have dinner ready by now" She got up and Brian followed her back to the house, already imagining himself doing all those fancy flips up in the air. 


	9. Could it be True?

The Prodigal Sister  
  
This story and all ideas, themes and original characters are the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Any unauthorized use is actionable in a court of law.  
  
To borrow a phrase: Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman and all characters and settings no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please?  
  
Brianna doubled over, holding her stomach, letting the reins go.  
"Brianna, are you all right?" Michaela asked from atop her own horse. Her sister-in-law didn't answer right away. She took a deep breath and let it out again, then straightened up.  
"Yeah" she answered, swinging up on her horse, "I'm fine" She smiled reassuringly at Michaela, "Just a little disagreement with my stomach. No big deal. Now, I do believe we have some business in town?" She took off at a steady trot and Michaela followed. She had been having some stomach pains the other day, hadn't she? Bright and early in the morning? Michaela knew what that sounded like.  
  
Later, in their bedroom......  
  
"Sully?"  
"Hmm?"  
"Has Brianna said anything to you about her stomach pains?" Sully stopped pulling the shirt over his head.  
"Stomach pains? What stomach pains?"  
"She hasn't always had them?" Michaela asked, although she was sure she knew the answer.  
"No. What're you talkin' about?" Sully asked, concern in his voice. Michaela finished putting her hair in a braid.  
"She's been feeling sick in the mornings" she answered, "Sully, I think she's pregnant" Sully sighed and pulled his shirt off.  
"No, she can't be" he told her. Michaela was surprised by the firmness in his voice. She was the doctor here.  
"I think she is. She has all the symptoms" she replied, "I've been watching her for a couple of weeks" The truth was she'd been keeping an eye on her sister-in-law's behavior, ever since a day a few weeks ago when she had single handedly taken care of a few outlaws who had set upon them on the way into town. She done things Michaela hadn't thought would be even possible, swinging from trees and twisting and kicking in the air like some kind of predatory bird or something.  
"Where did you learn to do that?" she had asked when the three men were laid out on the ground. Brianna was heaving hard and rubbing her side where she had been shot. She looked up at Michaela, still seated on her horse, with a pained look.  
"Learned it from a China man" she replied and swung back up on her horse. They had told the sheriff as soon as they'd reached town and he'd gone out and brought the men to the jail. Michaela had been impressed, but worried that she might be influencing Colleen or especially Brian in a....well a negative way. But Brianna never did anything Sully didn't do around the children, least of all show off.  
"No, she can't be" Sully repeated, bringing Michaela back to the present.  
"Well, why not?" she demanded, frustrated with his simple denial. She hadn't said anything to Brianna yet. They had started to become friends, but Michaela wasn't sure they had quite reached that point. Actually, the woman spent more time out with the horses and off with Sully than she did around the house, especially after the incident in town in front of Hank's. Sully took a deep breath and sat on the edge of the bed.  
"She and Dark Moon tried for years to have kids" he told her quietly. Michaela stared at him. She didn't even ask how he knew that, as his sister hadn't been "home" in quite a while. Apparently they'd kept in touch by writing letters and having them passed from Brave to Brave until it reached whoever it was supposed to reach.  
"They even went to an eastern doc who was in Denver" he told her softly, " He told her she'd never have a child" It sounded like the fact pained Sully.  
"Well, miracles do happen" Michaela said, still convinced that her sister-in-law was pregnant, despite whatever some doctor in Denver might have told her. She would just have to be more subtle and tender about bringing the subject up.  
  
Later........  
  
"Brianna, would you come in here?" Michaela asked. Brianna was tieing her horse up outside her office building. Brianna looked up at her.  
"I was planning on it" she said as if Michaela might have been doubting it. Michaela smiled and looked up at the slightly taller woman. She was dressed in her buckskins, as ever, her hair pulled back, but still riddled with feathered braids. Michaela had said something to Sully about saying something to Brianna about perhaps wearing something more...womanly...in town, but he had just looked at her.  
"Why?" he had asked. Michaela had been worried about how the towns people may treat the woman who dressed as, not only an Indian, but also as a man. And unfortunately that her fears had proven grounded. They had all known Brianna before she had gone away with Dark Moon and they all knew about her....eccentricities. They had apparently just ignored her previously, but, now, being the sister-in-law of a respected member of their community, not to mention Sully's sister, they had couldn't very well do that. Dorothy and Grace had warmed up to her a little; Dorothy because she was a writer and had a degree in linguistics, Grace because she knew how it felt to be judge on what was outside, and not on the inside. The rest of the town, however, was still getting used to her. Not that she cared.  
"What's up, Mick?" Michaela actually kind of liked the nickname Brianna had anointed her with. People called her Dr. Mike, yes, but never Mick. It was inappropriate for a woman. But, of course, Brianna didn't care about that.  
"I just want to examine that gunshot wound" Michaela told her.  
"But...you said it was fine. It's a month old." Brianna said, shutting the door behind her.  
"Oh, I know, but I just want to do one last check on it" Michaela lied. She hoped she wasn't wrong. Brianna shrugged.  
"You're the doc, Mick" she said and pulled her shirt off. She wore a cotton undershirt under the buckskin so she wasn't indecent. She laid down on the bed. Michaela used her hands to examine the area, and was gratified by noticing a slight swell in Brianna's lower abdomen.  
"Well, you're fine. I don't see any problems" she smiled as Brianna sat up and gave her a confused look.  
"Okay. Great" she said and got up.  
  
Later.............  
  
"She is definitely pregnant, Sully" Michaela hissed from the other side of the horse.  
"I examined her earlier" Sully unhooked the horses and led them to their stalls.  
"So she knows?"  
"No, I didn't tell her. I...thought you might like to" Michaela suggested.  
"Me?" Sully sounded like he didn't like the idea, " That's woman's talk" he said. Sometimes, Michaela thought, her husband could be very sexist.  
"You're her brother!" she cried.  
"And you're her sister. So you tell her" he said.  
"I don't think that's the greatest idea" Michaela replied.  
"Then let her figure it out on her own"  
"Sully!"  
"Let me figure what out on my own?" They both looked at the back door. Brianna had just walked in. Sully put his rigging down and turned to face her. He knew that now was the moment to tell his sister that one of her long time dreams was going to come true. Hopefully.  
"Bri....earlier when Michaela examined you, she, uh......" he faltered. He couldn't actually say it. Even to his sister.  
"Brianna" Michaela took over, with a big smile on her face, "You're going to have a baby" Brianna's face fell. She even got a little pale.  
"Uh, no I......I can't have children"  
"I told her, Bri...she's convinced" Sully told his sister.  
"I've been watching you the past couple of weeks, with your morning sickness. And then this morning I noticed your abdomen is slightly swollen" Michaela told her. Brianna just stared at her. She was starting to regret saying anything. And then all of the sudden Brianna started crying. Not just crying, sobbing. She put one hand against her mouth and another on her stomach. Sully went to hug her and she continued sobbing into his shoulder.  
  
"Sully! I can......Dark Moon........oh, Sully!" Michaela felt a tinest twinge of jealousy, but reprimanded herself. The woman had thought never to have a child, and now she needed the support of her best friend, who happened to be her brother, and just happened to be Sully. She thought leaving them alone would be the best thing, and quietly slipped out of the barn. 


	10. Of Laundry and Rabbit Stew

The Prodigal Sister  
This story and all ideas, themes and original characters are the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Any unauthorized use is actionable in a court of law.  
  
To borrow a phrase: Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman and all characters and settings no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please?  
  
"What did you catch, Sully?" Brianna called to her brother as he and Brian walked up toward the house. Sully held up a triage of rabbits.  
"Why do you call him Sully?" Colleen asked, pinning another skirt over the line.  
"Why do you call him Sully?" Brianna returned, handing her another clothespin. Colleen shrugged.  
"I guess because that's what he prefers" she answered.  
"Well, there you go" Brianna said, "Actually, everyone has always called him Sully. Ever since I can remember anyway. Father was the only one that ever called him Byron. Ma might've. I don't remember." Brianna remembered hardly anything about her mother, Colleen had discovered. And she was just as closed mouth about it as Sully was, unwilling to discuss it.  
"How's that dress comin'?" she asked, giving Colleen another shirt to hang up.  
"Good. Dr. Mike bought some ribbon to put around the waist" Colleen answered, excited about the prospect. They had gone with the red. Brianna watched every night as they worked on it. Colleen was hoping it would be ready in time for her birthday, which was only a couple of weeks away.  
"Where's Ma?" Brian asked, jogging over from the barn where Sully was probably skinning the rabbits he had caught.  
"She's still in town" Colleen answered.  
"Who's going to make dinner then?" Brian asked. Brianna set down the basket of newly washed clothing.  
"Well, I suppose I'll just have to" she said and headed toward the house.  
"You're going to cook?" she heard Sully say from the barn door, "We'll all starve!" Brianna turned her head and stuck her tounge out at him. Colleen stared and Brian laughed, but Brianna didn't stop, she just kept on going into the house.  
"You just bring me that rabbit when you're done!" she told him and closed the door behind her.  
"Here, Brian" Colleen handed him the laundry.  
"I'm not hanging up laundry!" he told her with a face.  
"You better. I better go help Aunt Bri or who knows what she'll do!" Colleen told him and ran in to help her Aunt.  
When Michaela got home she found dinner all ready and the table set, everybody just waiting for her.  
"Well, this is a surprise!" she exclaimed, "Colleen, did you make dinner?"  
"No, Aunt Bri did" Colleen answered, taking a seat at the table. Michaela looked at her sister-in-law.  
"You made dinner?" she asked. Brianna shrugged and passed her the hot loaf of bread.  
"You learn to do a thing or two" she answered. She had made rabbit stew, with a thick gravy and vegetables. Michaela took a bite.  
"Why, Brianna, this is wonderful!" she exclaimed. Brianna chuckled.  
"You won't be saying that later when your treatin' us all for stomach pains!" Sully said but he didn't really mean it. Just then they heard a racket outside. They could hear the horses neighing and Wolf lifted his head. Sully got up to see what it was. He parted the curtains and took a look out into the front.  
"Hey, Bri" he said slowly, "Your cat found you" Brianna's face lit up. She leapt up from the table and threw the front door open. The rest of the family crowded around behind her. Right out there in their lawn was a mountain lion, resting on his haunches and looking at the house.  
"Oh my God!" Michaela exclaimed and tried to push Brian and Colleen behind her. But Brianna just walked right down the steps and over to the huge cat. She rubbed its head behind the ears.  
"You're a long way from home, aren't you?" she said, giving it a good pat.  
"You have a mountain lion for a pet?" Brian asked excitedly. And he'd thought the idea of having a wolf for a pet was grand!  
"He's not really a pet" Brianna said, "He just..follows me around" She looked back down at the big, wild and probably dangerous cat.  
"Well, I know you're here now, go on, take off! You're scarin' the horses" she told him. He cocked his head at her for a second and then bounded off into the woods. Michaela leaned a little out the door to watch him disappear.  
"I hope he doesn't attack any local pets" she said worriedly.  
"Never has before" Brianna told her with a shrug as they all retreated back into the house. 


	11. Snow Induced Colds

The Prodigal Sister  
  
This story and all ideas, themes and original characters are the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Any unauthorized use is actionable in a court of law.  
  
To borrow a phrase: Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman and all characters and settings no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please?  
  
"You're not bringing a mountain lion into my house" Michaela said before Brianna could ask, passing her plate back to her.  
"Oh fine" Brianna said playfully, "Let Sully bring in his wolf, but can I bring in my bobcat? Oh, no"  
"Well that's cause wolves are civilized" Sully said. Brianna crossed her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him. Colleen giggled.  
"You should wear that face more often, Bri" Sully told her, getting up for more coffee, "Look's better than your regular one" He ruffled her hair as he passed.  
"Hey!" she exclaimed and then glared at him as he saw back down, "I hate it when you do that"  
"Why do you think I do it?" Sully replied, sipping his coffee with a straight face. Michaela had never seen him so.....playful. The two of them had been joking and poking fun at each other all day, like it was just something in the air. Sully did everything with a straight face, acting like he wasn't joking at all, and Brianna was the one to goad him. It was wonderful to see Brianna relax a little. The child within her was growing and pushing her stomach out a bit now. Michaela was hoping that she would outgrow her own clothes and start wearing something a little more normal soon, but somehow she doubted that would happen.  
"Cause you're mean" she replied, "You're lucky your older brother's not mean to you Colleen" she said, sliding a mischievous look at Sully, "Always ruffling your hair, and chasing you around..."  
"I chased you right into a snow pile, once" Sully said with a near laugh. He was smiling to himself. Michaela found it enchanting.  
"I remember" Brianna replied and threw a little piece of her bread at him, "I was home for the holidays" she told the rest of them, "I was about nine, so he would've been about 13. And he got the great idea that we should go out and have a snow ball fight" Michaela watched as Colleen and Brian forgot their food to listen to her story, "Then he got mad when I started winning"  
"You weren't winnin' " Sully objected.  
"I was too and you started chasing me all over the place, trying to get snow down the back of my coat!" Brianna laughed and threw another bite of bread at him, which hit him right in the forehead. He picked it up off the table and popped it in his mouth.  
"You ran right into a huge pile of snow" he told her, again straight faced, though Michaela could see his eyes were laughing.  
"I was looking behind me to see how close you were" Brianna defended herself, "And I had a cold for two weeks, thanks to you!"  
"I didn't give ya the cold" Sully said, smiling to himself again.  
"Mmm. You would've if you could've" Brianna replied, winking at Colleen. Colleen giggled again. Michaela was plain astonished to see this side of Sully that apparently only his sister could pull out. Not that she minded, actually she liked it. She could wish he were a little more lighthearted sometimes. Of course, living their lives didn't leave a lot of room for lightheartedness. Though, when she wasn't guarding herself, Brianna seemed to be. Michaela was just glad to know that the two of them had shared some happy times during their childhoods. Even if it was a snowball induced two week cold. 


	12. The Red Dress

The Prodigal Sister  
This story and all ideas, themes and original characters are the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Any unauthorized use is actionable in a court of law.  
  
To borrow a phrase: Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman and all characters and settings no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please?  
  
Colleen twirled in the kitchen, the red dress spinning around her ankles like a top.  
"Oh, Colleen, stop it!" Michaela scolded. She had been doing that ever since she had come downstairs and Michaela had been trying to work around her but it was just getting to be too much now.  
"Oh, Dr. Mike! It's so beautiful!" Colleen gushed as she pulled a chair out and plopped down.  
"I can hardly wait to get to town to show everyone!" Michaela smiled, knowing the feeling a brand new dress can give a young girl.  
"Eat your breakfast" she ordered, "Brian! Come and eat your breakfast!" Brian came stampeding down the stairs and found his chair. Brianna and Sully came in from outside where they'd been ever since Michaela had woken. Brianna's fingers were wrapped as if she'd cut them, but she didn't say anything and so Michaela ignored it.  
"Well, don't you look pretty" Sully said, noticing Colleen in her new dress.  
"Isn't it beautiful!" Colleen said with a big smile.  
"Yep. Seems to me, though, it's missing something" Brianna said, pretending to study the dress, "I think...I think the perfect thing to go with that new dress is a new pair of gloves" She took a seat at the table next to Colleen, still studying her with interest.  
"Let's see.....perhaps a nice pair of kid gloves with a bit of red ribbon to match? Something like, these?" She produced a beautiful pair of kid skin gloves with red trim and handed them gently to Colleen.  
"Oh, aren't they wonderful! They're so soft!" Colleen exclaimed happily.  
"Well, they'd better be!" Brianna laughed, "I beat them enough!"  
"You made them?" Colleen asked.  
"Yep, with my own two hands! You see, I added that red ribbon to match your dress" She pointed to the ribbon at the edge of the gloves, "They may be soft but they'll be sturdy enough to ride in"  
"Oh, thank you, Aunt Bri!" Colleen exclaimed and jumped up to hug her. Brianna grinned and hugged her back.  
"Oh, look, aren't they just divine?" Colleen exclaimed again, holding her now gloved hands out in front of her.  
"Mmm.they are lovely" Michaela agreed and noticed the soft look on Brianna's face, guessing what she was imagining. Her condition would be quite obvious by now if she were to wear something a little more normal, but as it was Michaela doubted anyone in town had noticed. At least, neither Dorothy nor Grace had said anything and they would be the two to pay attention to such things. Grace was still a little distant with Sully's sister, but Michaela was fairly sure the woman had won Dorothy over with her insightful compliments about the newspaper. The town was slowly coming around, just as they had with Michaela. Lauren would speak directly to her now, discussing the things men usually spoke about. Jake Slicker was respectful of her abilities, and always polite enough. The Reverand was still wary of her, but accepted her with the same kind of openness he usually displayed.  
"Well, shall we start for town?" Michaela suggested.  
"Bri'll go with you" Sully said as he opened the door.  
"I will, will I?" Brianna put her fists on her hips, and Michaela expected her to start tapping her foot. Sully turned around. He looked at Michaela.  
"I'm going hunting" he told his sister.  
"And, so?" Brianna prompted. Sully said something in Cheyenne, knowing his sister was the only other one in the room who would understand him. She replied in Cheyenne and they had a spirited conversation until Brianna narrowed her eyes and glared at him.  
"I'll see you later" he told the rest of them and went out the door. Brianna sighed and then turned around with a smile.  
"Well, Colleen, looks like I get to go to town with you for your birthday!" she smiled like she was truly happy about the fact but Michaela thought she was perhaps only putting a show on for her niece. She wondered desperately what Sully had said to her.  
Not long after, though, they were in town and getting out of the wagon.  
"Brian, be back here for lunch!" Michaela called after her son who had run off to do whatever it was boys did when they didn't have school. Dorothy was walking down the street towards the store and stopped to say good morning.  
"Why, Colleen, what a wonderful shade of red on you!" she exclaimed, knowing the girl was simply ecstatic about her new dress.  
"Thank you! Isn't it lovely! And look at my new gloves!" she put her hands out for Dorothy to I inspect.  
"Why they are darling! They may be the nicest gloves I've ever seen!" Dorothy exclaimed.  
"Brianna made them" Michaela informed her. Dorothy looked surprised.  
"Did she?" Dorothy replied.  
"Yes, well, it was nothing. If you'll excuse me, I have some business with Grace" Brianna almost blushed as she hurried away. Dorothy and Michaela exchanged a look. Neither had ever expected to find that Brianna was extraordinarily humble! They both wondered what her business with Grace could be. 


	13. Winning Grace

The Prodigal Sister  
This story and all ideas, themes and original characters are the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Any unauthorized use is actionable in a court of law.  
  
To borrow a phrase: Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman and all characters and settings no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please?  
  
"Here, just put some of this on it, it'll be fine" Michaela handed the bottle to Robert E. He'd burned his hand making some new horse shoes.  
"Thank ya, Dr. Mike, how much I owe you?" Robert E. asked.  
"It's a bit, but don't worry about it just now" Michaela answered, "I've got some other people to visit" Before Michaela could get too far away from Robert E's place though, Grace came running up.  
"Dr. Mike, Dr. Mike!" she cried, trying to catch her breath, "It's Brianna!" Michaela furrowed her brow and ran after her friend, Robert E. not far behind, thinking a man might be needed. Brianna was leaning up against a table leg on the ground, her buckskins with dark grass stains on the knees and the cuffs of her shirt. Her hand was splayed across her stomach and she looked as if she were just catching her breath, with her eyes closed and her head leaned back.  
"Brianna!" Michaela called as she dropped to the grass beside her. Brianna opened her eyes and looked at her sister in law. The older woman could see the pain in her eyes, the pain she would never admit to. But it wasn't just the pain Michaela saw, it was a fear too.  
"What happened?" she asked, moving Brianna's hand and putting her own on the woman's stomach.  
"I don't know" she answered, "It just.hurts" Michaela couldn't tell what was wrong just by feeling. She looked up at Brianna, who was looking right back.  
"Is it the baby?" she asked.  
"Baby?" Grace could be heard to say behind them.  
"I don't know" Michaela answered truthfully, then turned a bit, "Robert E., can you carry her for me?"  
" I have two legs" Brianna objected.  
"You shouldn't walk now" Michaela said and moved so Robert E. could collect her sister in law. Brianna didn't object as the man carried her all the way to Michaela's office where he laid her on the bed.  
"Robert E. now you get out of here" Grace shooed her husband off as Michaela pulled Brianna's shirt off to reveal her nicely rounded tummy.  
"My, look at that!" Grace exclaimed, taking the shirt from Michaela, "Brianna dear you must be a good five months, why didn't you never say anything?"  
"Who in the world talks about such a thing?" Brianna asked as Michaela examined her.  
"Well, I say" Grace replied, "Michaela did you know this woman's been coming down to learn how to cook everyday?"  
"To learn how to cook?" Michaela repeated, though she wasn't really paying all that much attention. She suddenly thought she knew what had happened.  
"Brianna, has there been blood?" she asked quietly. Grace got real quiet and Brianna just looked scared.  
"A little" she replied. Michaela sighed.  
"I think you were going to have twins" she told her sister in law, "And I think you lost one" Brianna pushed herself up on her elbows.  
"What do you mean I lost one?" she asked.  
"Sometimes, when a woman is with twins, one gets bigger and the other one dies" Michaela explained. Brianna didn't look afraid anymore.  
"You mean..I was going to have two?" she asked. Michaela nodded. Brianna thought about it just a minute.  
"But the other one, it's still healthy?" she asked.  
"Yes" Michaela answered.  
"Oh, Brianna, I'm so sorry" Grace said. Brianna let herself lay back down. She didn't say anything for a good minute.  
"It's all right" she said finally, "I'll thank the Lord for what He gives" Michaela admired her strength but thought the best thing to do was change the subject.  
"How did you get these cuts on your fingers?" she asked quickly.  
"Helping Sully with the mirror" Brianna answered, pulling her shirt back on.  
"What mirror?" Michaela asked.  
"The one he carved for Colleen for her birthday" Brianna replied with a slight smile, "Thanks Mick, and Grace too"  
Michaela didn't know it just then, but the mere fact that Brianna was doing something so womanly, having a child that is, brought her up in the esteem of all the women in Colorado Springs. The news traveled fast, now that Grace knew. (Not to say Grace was a gossiper) Brianna got cheerful greetings and congratulations wherever she went from almost all of the women, and polite greetings from most of their husbands. Michaela breathed a sigh of relief the day she realized Brianna had finally been accepted. 


	14. A Visit to the Clouds

The Prodigal Sister  
This story and all ideas, themes and original characters are the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Any unauthorized use is actionable in a court of law.  
  
To borrow a phrase: Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman and all characters and settings no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please?  
  
"Bri!" Brianna rolled her head to the side.  
"Bri!" There was some kind of bug in her ear.  
"Brianna, wake up!" Her eyes flashed open and she tried to sit up, but ran right into a brick wall. A brick wall made of flesh and blood and that looked an aweful lot like her brother.  
"Sully? What is it?" she glanced out the window. The sun hadn't risen yet, be she estimated it wouldn't be long now.  
"Get up" he ordered her, "Get dressed"  
"What are you talking about?" Brianna asked, throwing the covers back and swinging her feet to the floor. He couldn't want her to go hunting with him, not like this. Her stomach protruded so far it had shortened her night shirt by a good two inches. Plus, she didn't seem to have the stamina she usually did. Mick had claimed it was all part of the experience, and if it was, Brianna would be glad enough to never go through it again. If Dark Moon had been there she would've yelled at him until she was blue for doing this to her, but he wasn't there. He'd been missing now seven months and she worried about him every day. Custer was on the hunt and no Indian was safe.  
"Shhh!" he brother scolded her. The others were obviously still asleep. "Just get dressed. I'll meet you in the barn"  
"Sully!" Brianna hissed but he was gone already. She rolled her eyes and grabbed her pants. She'd had to tailor them so that they hung on her hips instead of on her waist, but she hadn't even though of putting skirt on. She knew Michaela disapproved, but she'd been wearing pants for near on ten years and she wasn't going back to skirts now.  
The sun was just starting to lighten the sky a bit by the time she got out to Sully. He was brushing down one of the horses.  
"Now what's this all about?" she demanded, brushing her loose hair back from her face.  
"We're going to see Cloud Dancing" he told her.  
"Are you crazy? I'm not walking all the way out there, like this!" she exclaimed, laying hand on her stomach.  
"You can ride then, come on" She just stared at him.  
"You're nuts!"  
"Come on, you can go bare back, it'll be easier" he said and pulled a box out for her to stand on so she could climb up on the horse.  
"I can't ride like this, Sully!" Brianna objected again. Sully grabbed her hand and pulled her over, pushing her up on the box.  
"I'll ride behind you" he said and offered her his hand for more leverage.  
"Since when have you been riding horses?" she asked, taking his hand and working hard to heave herself up. Sully swung up behind her and grabbed the reins so his arms were holding her on the horse.  
"Since now" he answered and moved them out of the barn. As they started across the field Brianna had to lean back into him.  
"I'll get you for this, Byron Sully" she said and he moved the horse into a faster trot. They rode for a while until they reached the spot Sully and Cloud Dancing had agreed upon earlier. The sun was in the sky now, but Sully could still feel his sister shivering in the morning chill. He reigned the horse in and slid off, then reached up to help her down too.  
  
"Here" he threw the blanket they had sat on across her shoulders. She drew it close and yawned.  
"Where is he?" she asked.  
"He'll be here" Sully assured her. They waited only a few more minutes before their Indian friend showed up. Brianna had her eyes closed, leaning against Sully in the still early morning.  
"I was told the young sister of my dear friend was here" he said as he approached, "But there is only a woman here"  
"Hey, Cloud Dancing" Brianna said, eyes still closed. She smiled and then opened one eye.  
"Well, you sound like Cloud Dancing, but all I see is an old man!" she laughed and then hugged him.  
"It has been a very long time, Crazy Woman" Cloud Dancing said, pulling back, "You are with child! This is good! Dark Moon will be very pleased, that the Great Spirits will finally grant you this joy" Brianna smiled, but it was a sad smile. The thought of her missing husband pulled at her heart. She was careful to keep her feelings to herself in public, but inside she was still a woman, and she loved her husband, and her nephew, dearly.  
"Do you see my husband in your dreams, Cloud Dancing?" she asked, almost timidly. Cloud Dancing often had a prophetic dreams that he shared with few people.  
"I do not" he answered, but put a hand on her shoulder, trying to reassure her with the gesture.  
"Did you ride?" he asked, trying to change the subject.  
"Yes" Sully answered.  
"You are crazy, Crazy Woman, to ride a horse in your condition"  
"It wasn't my idea," Brianna told him, with a glare for her husband, "And if it had been my idea, I would've made it for later in the day, when the sun had already risen!"  
"These times are dangerous" Cloud Dancing said, "Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse make trouble in the Sioux nation, and General Custer craves violence"  
"I know. Even I can smell the trouble that's on the way" Brianna agreed.  
"You know that if Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse make trouble they'll only make Custer mad. They'll be signing their own death warrant!" Sully added. The three nodded. They all knew what was coming, though they couldn't name it exactly. The Indians would be either moved from their land, or killed off. The world as they knew it was ending, flying head first into the pages of history books.  
"Come" Cloud Dancing said, walking slowly to a small knoll where Brianna could sit without too much discomfort, "Tell me of your husband and his brother's son" 


	15. Dark Moon

The Prodigal Sister  
  
This story and all ideas, themes and original characters are the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Any unauthorized use is actionable in a court of law.  
  
To borrow a phrase: Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman and all characters and settings no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please?  
  
Sully was having the oddest feeling of dejevu. He wiped his brow and put his ax down. Across the yard, Bri looked up from the ground she was hoeing for Michaela.  
"Sully, Sully, do you see?" Brian shouted again.  
"Yeah, I see Brian" Sully answered, putting a hand up to shield his eyes from the bright light. There was an Indian man walking across the same field Brianna had walked across only a few months ago. This man, howeve, was obviously hurt. He walked with a limp, and bent over too. Very slowly.  
"Sully?" Bri called. He shook his head at her. He didn't know who it was, not from this distance. Bri walked over to him.  
"Expecting anyone?" she asked. Sully shook his head again. They watched for a moment. Then a a look of recognition changed his sister's face.  
"Oh my God" she whispered and took off running toward the man. She wasn't going as fast as she could've, having to be careful of the child that was rounding her belly out, but she made time. As he watched, Sully saw the man fall, struggle to stand again, and fall again. Then he heard the name she shouted.  
"Dark Moon!" Sully took off after his sister.  
"Brian, get your Ma!" he ordered the young boy and didn't watch to see if he ran off or not. He caught up to his sister just as she was dropping into the foot high grass next to her husband. She pushed his long black hair out of his face and turned his head up to her.  
"Dark Moon?" she was worried, Sully could see. Worried and relieved to see her long missing husband.  
"Crazy Woman" the injured man breathed, "I found you"  
"Of course you did" his wife smiled at him, then looked at her brother.  
"C'mon" Sully said, helping to lift Dark Moon to his feet, "We have to get him to the house"  
"Michaela's all the way in town" Bri reminded him as they started back to the house, practically dragging the near dead Indian man behind them.h  
"I know" Sully told her, "I sent Brian after her" They got the poor man to the house and got him laid out on the table. Sully had no idea what more to do for him. He had a nasty looking wound in his side, too close to his heart for Sully's taste. He found a bottle of alcohol that Michaela kept and poured some onto a cloth to wipe around the wound.  
"You swell with child" Dark Moon rasped at his wife while she clinged to his hand.  
"Yes" she smiled at him, "My brother's wife says you left me with it"  
  
"The Great Spirit finally gives us a child?"  
"Yes, a good healthy child Medicine Woman says" Bri told him.  
"Perhaps my Crazy Woman will not be Crazy any longer" Dark Moon said. Sully studied his face while they spoke. He had a scar near his ear that had not been there the last time they had seen each other. Dark Moon was Sully's age, but he looked older. All the warring and troubles with his people, and his wife, over the years. Still, he was a handsome man, and love shone out of his eyes. Sully again felt that he was the best man he knew of for his sister, and was glad of their union.  
"I will always be your Crazy Woman" Bri whispered to him. Sully recalled the day Dark Moon had given her her Cheyenne name. It had been the day she decided to stay in the camp by herself while Sully went back to town, and had left her skirts in the tent and donned a pair of his own pants.  
"I'm tired of skirts and tea parties and manners and a thousand other rules that make no sense" she had proclaimed in perfect Cheyenne, "Especially when I can take care of myself as well as any man could take care of himself" The braves and women alike had all laughed at her, but the old ones just talked amongst themselves.  
"You are crazy, Woman!" Dark Moon had shouted, and that had ever since been her name.  
"Dark Moon" Sully drew the man's attention, "When did this happen?" Dark Moon shook his head weakly.  
"Many days ago, Brother of my Wife" he answered, "Crazy Woman says your new wife is a Medicine Woman"  
"She is" Sully confirmed, "And she's coming. I sent our son to get her" Sully had been surprised, the day he'd married Michaela, to realize that he really did feel that Brian, Colleen and even Mathew were their children, just as much his as Michaela's. He thought he must've felt that way for a long time, at least ever since he had proposed.  
They heard hoofbeats pounding their way up to the house and Sully opened the door just as Michaela swung off her horse. He was proud of how well she rode, after all she'd come to Colorado Springs barely able to mount.  
"Sully?" she asked.  
"It's Bri's husband" he told her, "Dark Moon"  
"Dark Moon?" Michaela repeated, every bit as surprised as he still was. She pushed past him to the injured man's side.  
"You are Medicine Woman?" he asked as she rolled up her sleeves.  
"Yes" she answered with a kind smile.  
"I am Dark Moon, husband of your husband's sister" he replied. Michaela smiled warmly again, but she was more concerned with his wound.  
"This is infected" she announced, pulling bottles out of her bag, "When did it happen?"  
"He said a few days ago" Sully told her, "I already wiped it down with alcohol"  
"Good. Will you get me that basin of water?" Sully fetched it for her.  
"This will hurt" she told Dark Moon as she reached into his chest with her tool, searching for the bullet. He didn't make a sound while she dug, just squeezed his wife's hand. She finally extracted it, not without trouble and a lot of blood. She started mixing some of her powders together in a bowl.  
"When did he get here?"  
"About half an hour ago" Sully answered.  
"That wound is a week old, at least" she told him, "It's badly infected, Sully" There was something about the way she said that that had Sully worried. 


	16. In the Night

The Prodigal Sister  
  
This story and all ideas, themes and original characters are the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Any unauthorized use is actionable in a court of law.  
  
To borrow a phrase: Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman and all characters and settings no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please?  
  
Michaela did what she could for Dark Moon and had Sully move him into a bed. The night came and he developed a fever. Brianna sat by his side all night, though Michaela told her to go to bed. When the morning dawned Michaela did another examination. He was the handsomest Indian she had ever met, with long, soft black hair, a strong jaw and dark, stormy eyes. He was well built, a bit bigger than Sully and muscled well. She had no doubts that he had been a strong man, a formidable warrior. But he had an unmistakeable tenderness in his eyes and speech. He was a perfect man for the obstinate but romantic Brianna.  
"Here, Brianna, give this to him" she mixed something up in a cub of broth for Dark Moon. His wife helped him to sip it down. Brian sat next to the Brave on the bed, just watching him. Colleen was busying herself with dishes left from breakfast, trying not to look at him. Michaela and Sully didn't know why she seemed so uncomfortable around him, because she was never uncomfortable with any other of their Indian friends. Still, for now, it was just as well. Dark Moon needed his rest.  
"Sully, can I talk to you" Sully glanced at Bri and then followed Michaela out onto the porch.  
"I don't think Dark Moon is going to make it" she said quietly. Sully let a breath out. He had been afraid that's what she was going to say.  
"The wound came very close to punturing his heart and lung, and it's infected. The infection is spreading to his heart and lung, and...." Michaela took a breath too, "It won't be more than a few days. Maybe not even that long" Sully flet like hitting something. It just wasn't fair. Now that Bri had finally stopped riding, she was home with him, she was finally going to have a baby, Dark Moon had shown up and now? Now he was going to die? How was that right? How could the world heap so much pain on his sister? As if she hadn't had enough already. And there was still the question of Thunder Rolling. What had happened to his sister's nephew?  
"Sully? I'm sorry" Michaela said softly. Sully pulled her into his arms and pushed out another sigh.  
"It's not your fault" he told her, "You did your best" He sighed again and then turned to go back into the house.  
"C'mon. I'll tell her" But he didn't have the nerve either, when they walked back in and saw Brianna smiling so tenderly at her husband, who had put a hand on her belly. She was a good eight and a half months now, and Michaela said it would be only a matter of weeks, maybe days, before the babe came.  
"You can feel the heartbeat" Brian told them, for he had a hand on her stomach too. Michalea bit her lip and slid a glance at Sully.  
The doctor did not go back into town that day. She should've, she had a paitent. But she sent Colleen with explicit instructions, and besides she was fairly sure the boy had a mere bad cold. She was much more needed at the house with Dark Moon. But as night fell his condition worsened and she feared he wouldn't make it through the night. She went running when she heard him coughing, and heard the faint sound of something wet in his lungs. Blood?  
"Mike, what's wrong with him?" Brianna cried. Michaela reached for her stethascope, but she knew the answer already.  
"There's blood in his lungs" she admitted to her sister-in-law, "He's dieing Brianna. I'm sorry"  
"No! No, Dark Moon! Dark Moon, don't you leave me!" Brianna cried, running both hands over her husbands sweaty face. She didn't sound the least bit hysterical; she sounded demanding. As if her mere words would stave off death. Dark Moon opened his eyes and looked at her.  
"The Great Spirit calls" he replied softly.  
"No! No, the Great Spirit can just wait a while, you haven't been with me long enough!" cried back. Dark Moon lifed a hand to her face.  
"You are Crazy Woman" he said, "The Great Spirit will not be denied. He calls"  
"No, no, no!" Brianna whispered, almost crying, "I still need you. Our child needs you" Dark Moon whispered something in Cheyenne. Michaela looked to Sully for a translation. He leaned down to whisper in her ear,  
"He said, 'I will always be with you. I will watch you from the moon....." he stopped while he listened to the rest of what Dark Moon whispered to his wife, " And I will touch you in the wind'" Michaela thought it was awefully romantic, if tragic. She felt tears coming to her own eyes, but noticed there were none in Brianna's. Perhaps she had no more tears to cry.  
"I love you, my Dark Moon" she heard the woman proclaim. Dark Moon began to cough again and Michaela moved to go to him, but Sully pulled her back by the arm. She looked up at him but he just shook his head at her.  
"Dark Moon! Dark Moon!" Brianna chanted into his hand, which was still on her face.  
"You must be a white woman" he announced suddenly. Brianna shook her head.  
"Yes" he restated, "You must be a white woman. You must put your skirts back on and make a life for our child, here. With your brother, where you will be protected. Sully!" He called to his brother in law, and Sully went to his side. He spoke some words in Cheyenne, Sully replied and they clasped hands. Then Sully backed away again.  
"You are no longer Crazy Woman. Now you are Brianna Sully again" Dark Moon told his wife. Michaela expected her to object, but she didn't. She just looked down at him sadly.  
"What will I live for when you are gone?" she asked quietly.  
"The child" Dark Moon replied, moving his hand back to her belly, "You will live for our child, that the Great Spirit gives us" And with that his hand dropped and he was gone. 


	17. Miracles

The Prodigal Sister  
  
This story and all ideas, themes and original characters are the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Any unauthorized use is actionable in a court of law.  
  
To borrow a phrase: Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman and all characters and settings no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please?  
  
Michaela wasn't sure she had ever been to a stranger funeral. Perhaps because there wasn't really a funeral. Dark Moon had not been Christian, so he was not buried in the church cemetry. Instead, Sully had taken his body to the nearest tribe to go through the rituals of death there. He and Brianna had attended, but none of the rest of the family had been permitted. When she returned, Brianna went straight to her room. She had returned dressed in a simple skirt and blouse, the feathers and bead removed from her long blonde hair and boots on her feet. She was quite stunning, even with the roundness of from her pregnancy. How had Michaela never noticed what a beauty she was? Surely the buckskins could not have hidden such a loveliness.  
"Why, Brianna, you look lovely" she exclaimed. Brianna tugged at the skirt. It was a lovely dark emerald green with a faint pattern in cream. Michalea had no idea where she had gotten it.  
"I haven't work a skirt since I was seventeen" she said, reaching for the cup of tea Michaela offered.  
"You look real pretty in it, Aunt Bri" Colleen exclaimed. Brianna had insisted that the children call her Aunt Bri. She smiled wanely at Colleen.  
"Thank you, Miss" she said regally. Michaela nearly stared. She sounded just as proper as any Boston bred lady. She had told Michaela that she had gone to school back east, but Michaela hadn't really and truly believed it until just now. Her whole image changed with those three words. She suddenly stood straighter and more....primly, her chin lifted into the air and a polite look appeared on her face. Just like any proper young woman would be expected to look back in "civilization". And then it vanished and she was once again Brianna. But Michaela got the feeling they'd be seeing much more of Ms. Sully. Dark Moon had ordered her to be a "white woman" hadn't he, and if nothing else, Brianna would honor his dieing wishes.  
"Brianna, some of the towns people wanted to give their condolences. I hope you don't mind, but we've set up a small gathering at Grace's" Michaela hadn't known what to say when Dorothy and Grace had said their should be some kind of service for the man, more than just "an Indian ritual". With the death of her husband and the advent of a child, Brianna had finally won their hearts too. The men of the town respected her for her....talents....but the women had been harder to convince. Even Dorothy and Grace thought she was a bit unseemly, though they were always kind and curteous to her. But they all knew life's pains, and there was no way they would let any woman face a life alone, torn from the world she had known for so long, especially not Dr. Michaela's Quinn's sister-in-law.  
"Uh, Michaela, I don't think...." Sully started.  
"No, it's fine, Sully" Brianna interrupted him. So they hitched up the wagon and rode into town. There wasn't a large crowd at Grace's, but it was the people that mattered. Lauren was there, Robert E., the Reverend, even Hank was there, though the Lord knew why. Sully helped his sister out of the wagon and they joined the rest of the group.  
"Brianna" Dorothy held her hands out to the woman, "I'm so sorry, dear" Brianna smiled.  
"Thank you" she replied, "And thank you for...this" She nodded around to the gathering, "It's truly wonderful of you"  
"Of course" Dorothy said and went off.  
"Ms. Sully" Rev. Johnson said when she had gone, "I'm sorry about your loss. From what your brother tells us, Dark Moon was a great man"  
"He was" Brianna assured him. The Reverand seemed uncomfortable now and so he nodded and smiled an walked away.  
"I remember Dark Moon" Lauren's voice turned them around.  
"Lauren" Brianna smiled at the older man.  
"Wasn't a bit surprised when the two of you rode off together" he added, "Always was off his block, that one. But I see you put your skirts back on"  
"Lauren" Brianna said with hint of warning in her voice, but she didn't sound offended. Lauren just nodded at her and raised his glass.  
"I'm going to get some more punch" he said and headed off to the long table behind which Grace was passing out food. Brianna accepted more condolances from more people, Sully standing behind her for support and Michaela beside him. The children had gone off to get food. Actually most of the guests had gone and Michaela was thinking they should be getting back home too when all the sudden Brianna sucked in a deep breath and clutched at her stomach.  
"Brianna?" Michaela asked, putting her own hand on the woman's stomach. She could feel the contractions pushing downward. Brianna made a strangled sort of sound.  
"Bri?" Sully sounded concerned.  
"There's still time" Michaela told her, "We'll walk to the office, that'll help" Brianna was breathing heavily, but she nodded and stood up. Then her eyes widened until Michaela was afraid they might just pop out.  
"Oh my God!" she hissed under her breath, unwilling to scream, "I don't think so Mike!" Michaela put her hand back on her stomach.  
"The contractions are coming quickly. Brianna, how long have you been having them?" Brianna shook her head and shrugged.  
"All day?" Then she bit down hard as another wave of pain rolled over her.  
"Sully, pick her up" Michaela ordered and Sully complied. Dorothy ran over.  
"Heaven's sake, what's wrong?" she asked.  
"Brianna's gone into labor" Michaela replied, "We'll have to run, Sully" They started off down the streets. It's not easy to run with a pregnant woman in your arms, though, especially when you can feel every wave of agony that swept through her. The contractions were right on top of each other before they got to the office and he could lay her down. Dorothy had followed and was assisting Michaela so Sully stayed by her head and held her hand. Finally she did scream, and squeezed his hand hard enough he was afraid she'd broken it.  
"Push, Brianna! You have to push!" Michaela ordered. Brianna had tears rolling down her cheeks as Sully wiped hair away from her sweaty face. He'd had no idea there was so much pain involved in delivering a baby. At least, he hadn't known it was normal. She screamed shrilly again and he was forced to pull his hand from hers, but a moment later the wailing of a babe filled the air. Brianna leaned back and sucked in deep breaths. Michaela and Dorothy gently washed the child and wrapped it before laying it in Brianna's arms.  
"You have a beautiful baby girl" Dorothy told her.  
"Look at that" Sully said, looking down at his new niece. Brianna's tears had stopped but she gazed lovingly at the tiny child. The infant had black fuzz covering her head and, when she finally opened her eyes, they all saw they were stormy gray-brown, like her fathers.  
"What are you going to name her?" Michaela asked quietly. Brianna didn't even look up.  
"Miracle" 


	18. To Gaze At the Moon

The Prodigal Sister  
  
This story and all ideas, themes and original characters are the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Any unauthorized use is actionable in a court of law.  
  
To borrow a phrase: Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman and all characters and settings no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please?  
  
Brianna gazed into the fire silently. Colleen and Brian had already gone to bed, Mathew had left after dinner. Sully was widdling on a piece of wood and Michaela was working on a skirt she had ripped last week, tripping over a step in town.  
"What am I going to do now?" Brianna asked no one in particular. Michaela put her sewing down.  
"Well you don't have to do anything" she said.  
"You're staying here with us" Sully added, not as a question or an offer, just a simple fact. Almost an order. Michaela was surprised when Brianna didn't glare at him. She didn't like being told what to do.  
"And do what, Sully?" she asked, "I don't know how to do any...womanly things. I can't cook, I can't clean or sew. I don't have a trade skill, I'm not a doctor. What am I supposed to do, just sit around like a bump on a log?" Michaela took up her sewing again.  
"Well, I'm sure there's something you can do" she said, "I hear we need a new school teacher"  
"Teach?" Brianna laughed, "Me?"  
"Well you do have a college degree" Michaela reminded her.  
"In linguistics. Hardly fit for teaching math and geography" Brianna objected.  
"Please. You know more about math than a banker, and you been to places I can't even say" Sully said, without even looking up.  
"Well, there you go" Michaela said, "You can be a teacher" "That's nice, Mike, but I don't think I've got the patience to deal with a bunch of kids all day, tryin' to make them understand things" Brianna replied. "Well, there are other places a linguistics degree could be of help, I'm sure" Michaela thought for just a minute. "You could help Dorothy with the Gazette. Oh, I know! You could work at the library!" Michaela thought it was a wonderful idea. Brianna and Sully exchanged a look. He shrugged at her. Brianna didn't object this time, she just sighed and turned her head to look out the window. Michaela pretended not to watch as she got up, checked on Miracle who was sleeping in the cradle Sully had made for her, and went out the door. Sully looked up, put his knife down.  
"Maybe you should go check on her" Michaela suggested. He nodded, got up and followed his sister.  
The night air was warm, and a full moon lit up the entire homestead. Bri was standing in the "yard", staring up at that full moon. Sully knew what she was thinking. Dark Moon had promised he would watch her from the moon, hadn't he? Sully walked slowly to stand by her side, and look up at the moon with her. They were silent for a long while.  
"What do you think happened to Thunder Rolling?" he asked finally. Bri didn't even look at him.  
"He's dead. Dark Moon never would've left him if he were alive" she said. Sully didn't reply. He knew she was right. Just then a soft breeze brushed over them, and Bri closed her eyes. Dark Moon had said he'd touch her in the wind. Sully thought he should leave the two alone, and quietly went back up into the house. Before he closed the door, he took one more look at his sister, and saw a single tear glistening on her cheek in the moonlight. 


End file.
